DAVID GRUNFELD / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE
Shrimp boats sit idle Monday morning at the Venice Marina in Venice, Louisiana May 3, 2010. NOAA is restricting commercial and recreational fishing in oil-affected portions of the Gulf of Mexico

The chief executive of BP says crews have been able to reduce the amount of oil spill reaching the Gulf surface from a massive underwater leak with a new approach of using chemicals at the source.

CEO Tony Hayward also said BP is not responsible for the Gulf of Mexico drill rig accident that set off the spill but is taking responsibility for the response and cleanup.

Hayward said on the NBC "Today" show Monday that BP is injecting dispersant chemicals into the oil as it pours out of an undersea well. He said it was a new approach and appeared to be having a significant impact on the amount that reaches the spreading surface slick. He did not elaborate.

On ABC's "Good Morning America," Hayward said the drill rig equipment and processes that failed and led to the spill belonged to rig owner Transocean Ltd.